Tactics RPG Deckbuilder
The last time, they burned a kingdom to ash. Now they're falling again, and all we have are cadets.
A story-driven tactics RPG with a deckbuilder. Build your army, build your deck, and bend every battle with the hand you draw.
Every turn you draw five cards and spend three energy to play them. Teleport a cadet out of a trap, burn a line through the enemy, or call a star down on the field. The cards give you options. You still make every move.
Cadets from all four nations, each with a story of their own. Recruit them, fight beside them, and unlock their support conversations as their bonds grow in battle.
of House Astra
The second son of a small Reach house, sent to the Academy to learn to command and not expecting to be good at it. He watches first and says the practical thing. People keep ending up behind him without quite deciding to.
of the Dawnforge Line
An Empire cadet from a family of soldiers, cousin to Frederick Dawnforge. Disciplined and fair, slow to warm and impossible to shake once she has. She wanted the facts about Cael, not the rumors, and got herself assigned close enough to check.
the Scholarship Student
A scholarship student from the Reach with a borrowed coat and more books than sense. Brilliant, warm, and fascinated by the void from the first minute. He answers questions nobody has asked yet, and charms whoever was about to ask.
of the Ashen Wastes
A survivor from the Ashen Wastes. Fast, blunt, and allergic to small talk. He is kind only in what he does: a water flask handed over, a watch taken without asking.
the Skyguard
A Skyguard with no memory of her life before ten. She senses the void before anyone sees it and calls it a lucky guess every time. What she wants most is to be a person, not an answer.
Castellan Quartermaster
Son of a Free Cities trade family, and the one who has already sorted everyone's kit before they ask. He plans while others worry. Logistics is how he says he cares.
the First-Year Cleric
A first-year cleric from an Empire family, earnest and a little formal. She volunteered for field work after the Whispering Woods patrol came home hurt, and still isn't sure she's allowed to smile on duty.
the Dockhand
A former dockhand who spent two years trying to get into the Academy and never stopped grinning about it. Loud, friendly, and the first to carry someone else's pack.
Scout of the Kesh
The scout of a Kesh clan driven north when their basin turned to glass. Guarded and proud, he speaks rarely and watches everything. Owing people worries him more than the fighting does.
Aldric's Assistant
Professor Aldric's research assistant, rarely without ink on her fingers. Flustered in conversation and formidable on the page. She keeps the catalogue of the Codex, one waking page at a time.
Choose what to carry. Every card has a weight and your deck has a limit, so each strong card pushes another one out.
Spend the glass left behind by fallen stars to ink a new effect onto a card.
Bookmark Stays in your hand at the end of the phase.
Shorthand -1 energy (never below 1).
Afterglow An ally it lands on also restores 3 HP.
Each chapter is a month at the Academy. Spend your free days with classmates, or travel the map to towns and fresh star craters before they're gone.
Four nations watch what your squad does. Your words change how scenes play out and how recruits join you, and nobody is missable.
A campaign in three acts, told a month at a time at a school heading for war.
Single battles with a set squad and a set deck. Win fast, beat every enemy and bring everyone home to earn an S rank.
A roguelike run across a branching map of battles, camps and strange events to a boss at a fallen star. Every win offers new cards, and a cadet who falls is gone for the run.
